You should level from 1 to 15 (depending on what you do of course)
Races
Orc may not make sense, therefore it is not recommended.
Roleplay
Light
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
01
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Alignments
Assumes that you are a decent person out to do the right thing. Although, there are some places that you can pickpocket and/or kill someone and get away with it.
Gameplay Hours
50
Description
Aldebaran City and the Forgotten Empire : Chapter One
NO HAK PACKS REQUIRED!
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GAME DESCRIPTION
=================
"Aldebaran City and the Forgotten Empire" is a single player role-playing game set in one of the lesser-known Forgotten Realms of the world. The adventure is open to all classes, and alignments, and the player should start at level 1.
NOTE: Orc is not recommended due to story conflict, but not enforced through script.
-Approximate Game play Length: 40-70+ hours (unknown)
-Content Rating: Teen (minor language)
-Multiplayer: None
-Dungeon Master: None required
-175 Areas to explore. (including house interiors)
-# of Quests: 30+ (small,medium,large)
NOTE: The �epic� quest concerning the main �villain� can not be completed until Chapter 2, as well as one other quest that is triggered shortly before the end of Chapter 1 as this quest deals with your character�s goals in Chapter 2.
PROLOGUE:
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�Far from the shores of Waterdeep, on the other side of the world, lay another forgotten realm. Built upon the stars and constellations of our galaxy, this forgotten northern region needs only you to bring it into existence.
The northern region is a place recently reborn from the ashes of a people that lived so long ago. A land far across the Great Northern Ocean, the small continent that lay there was once home to a great empire. For the land was different then, one thousand years ago. Peace was at hand, and religion flourished. But things would not remain as such. Even the shape of the continent itself would be scarred from the destruction those people had brought upon themselves...
...Now, one thousand years later, lay Aldebaran City. Having a huge dome constructed to shield the city from the frigid climate, Aldebaran City is a haven to those who travel through the Pleiades Mountains and seek warmth and shelter. The land is once again home to beings and creatures of all kinds. But some things, that have been forgotten for so long, are about to be rediscovered. For the land today may again soon change once again, if the forgotten empire and the secrets surrounding its destruction are realized.
When the northern region becomes the subject of a series of unforeseen events, a hero arrives to this forgotten realm and is thrust into a race to restore order. However, in order to do so, this hero will uncover truths and understanding that may challenge the very order he seeks to mend. Will you be that hero?�
GAME INTRODUCTION:
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Your village is situated within the vast borderlands of two great empires. However, its isolation makes it difficult for either empire to defend it, and its small size makes it difficult for them to even care. Fueled mainly by the desire to survive, as well as lingering hate from The Great War, the village is frequently targeted by small bands of nomadic drifters who survived the war by escaping to the vast borderlands between the two great empires.
For you, living a modest life in this small war torn village has kept you ignorant to the �civilized� world. You know little of the religion that flourishes outside of your village, and living this sheltered life has grown frustrating and tiresome. So, you gather up what little you own and decide to charter passage across The Great Northern Ocean to the historic city of Ralerham. Rumors of its fine sights and modern seaports balance upon truth and tale throughout the village. As the ship sets sail, you look out over the calm waters ahead and begin to daydream. Thoughts of walking the streets of this peaceful city are refreshing indeed, but at moment, the famed city seems a world away.
After a few weeks voyaging across the waters of the Great Northern Ocean, a storm emerges and visibility soon becomes a thing of the past. Huge waves slam the boat's hull from all directions, and the small vessel seems no more than a leaf thrown into a raging river. As the storm continues, so does your journey...
2. REQUIREMENTS
=====================
"Aldebaran City and the Forgotten Empire" has the following requirements:
- Both expansions (SoU and HotU) are installed
- The game version is patched to 1.69
- The override directory is empty to avoid compatibility issues. Note: with 1.69, the override contains 9 new files most beginning with Is_car_*.
Please report any bugs, spelling errors, etc., to [email protected].
Aldebaran City and the Forgotten Empire : Chapter One v24
Final Version / last updated 2-1-2010
*Map of the Northern Region
*mod includes recent fixes listed in ReadMe for pre v7 releases.
*mod includes recently added 'bandits quest' ONLY available through the henchman.
*mod includes recent fix for the 'broken' cut scene, some reported issues with it freezing up. There is now an option to speak with him directly, OR view the cut scene.
*mod includes a hidden option as of v20 (see Readme 'Hints' for details)
Posted by jhmssa at 2012-09-16 07:51:12 Voted 10.00 on 09/16/12
A fantastic well written module and addicting !
Thanks a lot for your nice work.
I finished it level 17 due to the monsters reincarnating perpetually and much patience...
One regret : Morteus doesn't seem to give you any quest, so I could not complete the Saiph caves, look inside of the mud but I suppose it will be for the chapter 2.
Thanks again and keep on that track whatever anyone may say.
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2012-09-06 16:28:48 Voted 10.00
Thanks for the feedback and the vote...sorry to say that CH2 has been put on the back burner. I'm working crazy hours at work, my family life and 3 small kids make it tough to find time for it...the good news is that alot of work has already been done...
Posted by eggerfry at 2012-06-10 10:10:20 Voted 9.75 on 06/10/12
I played this module in one of its previous incarnations. IIRC I didn't enjoy it very much ; in fact, I was very disappointed. All I can say is : WOW, what a difference! Where the version I played before suffered from numerous problems, bugs and overall lackluster performance, this one really shines. The story is well-crafted, there's plenty to do, and best of all, there are NO BUGS.
There's great attention to detail, from little environment hints before transitions -- both visual and aural -- to item descriptions and monster/NPC characterisations. The dialogs were good, well proofed, and really set character tone/mood. There are even hints in dialog and scripting to help the player in case you get derailed somewhere along the way [for example, I couldn't find a transition necessary to one of the quests, and when the module 'noticed' I was getting ahead of myself and the quest still hadn't been completed, the 'fog of war' was lifted in the area in question, revealing a way to explore a section I'd thought impassible].
I enjoyed the detailed journaling ; not only did it add to the overall experience, it really helped keep track of things. I am a 'weekend player', so being reminded of what was current in the quests was very helpful, especially as I played this module over the course of several weeks.
I really enjoyed the open-ended feel provided by some of the longer story arcs. This was quite different to some modules that seem to have an almost mechanical progression from one quest to the next.
The cut-scenes are both germane and well written. I really enjoyed watching them, even though they stripped my character's bufs. [To be fair, this is true for cut-scenes in most modules ; there are apparently very few builders who know how to do this right.] They were thoughtfully placed so they'd add to the excitement, rather than just being plunked down somewhere in the story line, making it seem like the builder said 'gee, let's put a cut-scene here, why not?' as cut-scenes in some modules seem to be.
IIRC the version I'd played before suffered from major problems in henchman AI. I don't know if this was due to module scripting or to the game itself, but whatever the reason, in the previous version, the henchman AI overrode voicechat commands, which resulted in him continually charging off and getting himself killed -- the end result being I finally just abandoned him, which made the combats much harder. In THIS version, the henchman pays attention to VC, the result being that combats are now much more well-balanced. Even if you run a wizard, as I did, you still should have no trouble.
A couple of minor criticisms and observations-
- I would've expected the module to do an autosave, export the character, save the PC and henchman to the database -- or all 3 -- before it ended, especially if we're expected to continue the story in a 'part 2'. Alas, this was not the case ; we go into the final cut-scene and the module just ends. If there ever is another update to this module, it would be great if the game did an autosave just before entering the last cut-scene, which will allow the player to finish the first chapter gracefully, rather than having to go back to the last savegame, replay the last few hours, and export the character manually. [*QUASI-SPOILER* for players wanting to know when to save : do so just before you take the boat to 'El Nath'.]
- IMHO, most of the areas are too big. I mean REALLY too big. They take forever to load and even longer to traverse, even with boots of speed.
- Boxes, chests, and bags of treasure out in the middle of open spaces cheapen the feel of an otherwise superior module. Yes, it's true that even the OC did this, but... I don't know ; I prefer to be more immersed, and this practice leaves me with the feeling I'm playing a D&D version of Nintendo.
Aside from that, no complaints. Kudos to fabienscorpio, this is a great module that was fun to play and really shows off the tremendous amount of work that went into its development. I hope the teasers about a chapter 2 were serious, I'm really looking forward to playing it.
Posted by Gaeldrin at 2011-12-06 19:37:02 Voted 10.00 on 12/06/11
hey, just wanted to say that I'm really looking forward to playing this mod (I've been away from the game and have quite a backlog to catch up on)! I'll be trying it whether or not there's a sequel, but I just wanted to assure the author that there are definitely still NWN players around who enjoy these mods. I would also encourage the author not to try to bite off too much for the sequel. I only say this because I've seen many great modders get seriously burned out trying to perfect massive mods. I'd say it's better to keep the project manageable rather than sprawling (although that's obviously a lot easier said than done for an imaginative modder!) Anyway, thanks to fabianscorpio for your hard work!
Posted by jonesr65 at 2011-02-14 13:10:19 Voted 10.00
Thanks for the update, I'll keep checking back. I don't like to some of the player that keep harping on a builder, because all of you have your own outside lives to live and I know how busy life can be.
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2011-02-13 16:29:03 Voted 10.00
Jones...still hard at work...sorry to say I have no clue...sometimes I wonder if, in the end, it will be worth the time...
Posted by jonesr65 at 2011-02-07 06:12:42 Voted 10.00
Any idea when chapter 2 coming out? I've kept NWN loaded and my save game, so I can play it when it's released.
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2011-01-18 02:03:40 Voted 10.00
I can't believe it's been 2 years since I released this....TWO YEARS! Where does the time go?!?
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2011-01-18 02:01:58 Voted 10.00
Guru Bob and Remi - Thank you so much guys for your votes, comments, and the time you took to play!
Posted by Remi Fasolati at 2011-01-16 06:21:59 Voted 9.50 on 01/16/11
I enjoyed this MOD. I was able to relax and absorb the ambience you've created, the color, the clever nuances, the inter-related connections. And the superb creative dreamworld.
There were many key figures and unique triggers, some of which weren't obvious. So sometimes one is just lucky to stumble upon such a key figure or else the adventure comes to an abrupt halt. In other places I see where you've supplied backup clues in case the player has missed the intended ones. That's good!
But there were quite a few times I would run into a crucial character purely by happenstance.
Overall: All Hail FabianScorpio! Master MOD-smith.
Posted by Guru Bob at 2010-12-11 07:47:33 Voted 9.50 on 12/11/10
I really enjoyed the depth and the story of the mod, but the battles were repetitive and predictable. Early on it seemed that the only source of gold was to loot EVERY corpse and barrel. Traps and locked containers were also very predictable. I liked the quests in the city and the varied shops. Though I spent a lot of time searching for the Capt. in the town to report progress on his quest, after not playing for a day or two, only to discover that he wasn't around until later.
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-11-03 17:21:47 Voted 10.00
marcomir - thanks for the detailed reply, the time you took to play, and the vote. As for the Mintakan Sanctuary, yeah, with ALL the updates and revamping to other areas, it's one I never got around to 'updating' properly. You comments about the catacombs and more variety of monsters, again, you are correct, but I tried to keep it realistic in terms of what would actually be there, considering the place was only there within the last 100 yrs of the story, and how they buried their dead. But, that's on me. Glad you enjoyed it!
Posted by marcomir at 2010-11-02 17:00:56 Voted 9.00 on 11/02/10
Hi,
thanks for building this game and posting it free, you have given me hours of fun playing your game. Excellent story, nicely crafted milieu, well drawn and thought through maps. (see below)
Seen the comments on the forum about travelling - getting there is half the fun, ok later in the game teleporters, boots, boats etc are a must , but early on just getting somewhere should be a battle e.g you've had fight ,few hit points left, last healing is gone, can't rest, can you get through the rest of the forest without a bandit putting an arrow in your back ? or being torn to shreds by wolves.....
spoilers or rather minor niggles, that did not spoil my enjoyment, and should not be read as reasons not to play this module.
Really don't like boxes of treasure randomly placed in barrels and boxes about the place -- if you had some treasure would you leave it lying about in a barrels for any Elric, Grey Mouser or Conan to pick up -- you have got to work for it. Did not like treasure in the sewers, didn't mind the long trekking through monotonous sewers having been in a real one can't say there's much variety, apart from what floats by.
Or have a look in the monster manual - what lives in sewers - rats, carrion crawlers,ghoul or two,spiders (eeh) some weaker slimes,....that reminds me... I didn't kill any of them Green slimes.. could not..wrong weapons ... but lured them into rooms or ran like hell ! but was a good gaming experience...had to work at that. Readers don�t forget the original NWN game designers went for leaving treasure lying about in boxes about the place..why did they do that ?
Dead monsters had too much money on them and bosses too little in thier treasuries in comparison, where�s the pecking order.. me big boss..you give me gold.. or me bash your brains out....
Mintakan sanctuary - I feel you got kinda tired with that map, that was the most disappointing in terms of visuals and kinda expected some opportunity to talk to the guy to "give peace a chance" but expected it to end in fight. Compared to Alphecca, the Orc tunnels and maps the Mintakan sanctuary was the area that disappionted. The more so as the wood area's and caves approaching were well designed and were visualing pleasing.
Interactions with NPC's were well scripted, I actually read them , wasn't tempted to skip straight to a reply. Your time spent on those scripts was well spent as interactions with the npc''s are the key factors in turning something from a simple monotonous hack and slash like "dungeon seige" into an actual RPG. I liked that merchants sold different goods, so had to consider economics where would I get the best prices ? sell at A but buy at B ? But lost this later in the game as the amount of money I had meant that I didn't need to worry about that, fortunately the rest of the story had gripped well enough that I didn't notice loss of that factor from the gameplay.
Bugs -- no bugs in my play through, apart from the warned of one at the Bellam Estate cut scene, fore warned fore armed so no problems. Speaking of which liked the cut scenes, moved the plot along well, paced correctly, and were well designed. Camera moved about , kept the attention.
Undead Catacombs - Well designed but as I went deeper the oppossition didn't get any tougher in terms of variety of threat -- no Mummies, Greater Mummies , wraiths or spectres , would have liked to have seen the opposition get tougher.
Resting was too easy , should have been permissible in certain area's only. Any area were the oppossion could reasonably be expected to wander through should have not have allowed resting -- I was able to rest in the Mintakan sanctuary before finishing the final fight.
I'd liked more henchmen available.
So, finally, well deserved Hall of Fame classification, I'd recommend this to any one, mainly for the emersive story, usually very good visuals, npc interaction, side quests, (I'm sure I missed some) replay value (I'll try with some sort of spell caster next time ) glad I played And really really looking forward to Chapter two..........
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-10-05 02:10:48 Voted 10.00
taospark - Thanks. :)
Posted by Taospark at 2010-09-29 09:02:04 Voted 9.25 on 09/28/10
Never mind. Reloading the module twice seems to have fixed the problem.
By the way, I like that not every enemy of the same type has the same HP or level. It definitely makes wilderness encounters less monotonous when you don't know which one can kill you and which one is a pushover.
Posted by Taospark at 2010-09-28 22:58:37 Voted 9.25 on 09/28/10
I downloaded this module about a year ago and finally had some time to start out a new character. This is a module with challenging combat and a fairly immersive environment not to mention nicely crafted cutscenes.
I am having one problem that someone else did, however. Petra is not spawning in any house in the city after I receive the quest to return her ring.
Is there anything I can do?
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-09-27 11:35:42 Voted 10.00
jml - Thanks a ton! CH2 is a work in progress. My main computer has been down for about a month, but should be fixed soon. And, I had one hell of a summer! So, I took some time off.
Thanks again!
Posted by jml at 2010-09-13 12:53:49 Voted 10.00 on 09/13/10
What an abrupt ending, & no chapter II. But...
Great module. Very classical, all about the regular way of playing NWN. Surprises al along the way, amazing way of drawing the maps, making every fight very challenging and highly stratégical.
A dream for spellcaster.
One bad side: Way too many crates and chests to open for almost no results. So grab some extra gold and move on without bothering with any of them... unless there is something needed around.
Don't worry about areas you can't enter yet. You'd get there when it's the appropriate timing. Not one bug, nor any mistake. That module is perectly masterminded.
Have faith in the author, and enjoy one of the longest journey I ever had.
(There is a way to pick-up that cleric girl as a 3rd henchy in the "Read me")
I would have played a chapter II right away... _________________________ @ + jml, level 52
"Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel"
"M�not shr this ishych u g�dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by jml at 2010-09-07 07:27:26 Voted 10.00 on 09/13/10
Okay, 'found the 5 crystals. The last one (actually the first one) is just kind of uneasy.
_________________________ @ + jml, level 52
"Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel"
"M�not shr this ishych u g�dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by jml at 2010-09-07 06:03:16 Voted 10.00 on 09/13/10
Where is that 5th crystal in the mines?
I went all the way to the chieftain's head, but found only 4 of those. I'm still short by one. A walkthrough anywhere anymore?
Thanks.
_________________________ @ + jml, level 52
"Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel"
"M�not shr this ishych u g�dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-06-26 01:16:57 Voted 10.00
RogueStork - you should be ok with that type of override.
Posted by Neilium at 2010-06-22 17:44:13 Voted 10.00 on 06/19/10
You're welcome, and thank you! :)
I'll keep checking back occasionally to start CH2 whenever that happens, looking forward to it!
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-06-22 15:21:52 Voted 10.00
Thanks, Neilium. As far as the Character save...you are right. I had originally planned on releasing CH1 & CH2 together as a whole once CH2 was finished, thereby not having any reason for a character save. But CH1 has gotten huge, and CH2 is probably going to be just as large, if not larger as far as explorable area...so...I should probably make that change asap. :)
Thanks again!
Posted by Neilium at 2010-06-19 14:29:29 Voted 10.00 on 06/19/10
Hi gang, guess what? I just finished the game! :)
Thank you FabianScorpio for a great time, I enjoyed playing your mod even more the 2nd time around.
My Paladin finished at Lvl 13 (Fighter Lvl 2 for Great Cleave) and had enough of those hard to find Resurrection Rods at the end to hold a garage sale! :) My only pet peeve is not being prompted to Save Char before rolling the credits, but that's not enough to rate lower IMO.
I had forgotten how cool the last cut-scene was, I really hope you are considering the sequel!
Thanks again, I had a blast! :)
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-06-17 17:04:49 Voted 10.00
Steve - some of the bandits are just off the south road, small paths that lead no where but to a few bandits.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2010-06-14 20:30:16 Voted 9.75
This mod is still broken. I've scoured all of the south road areas and still the bandit quest is in my journal. Where are there more bandits? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by fabianscorpio at 2010-06-10 12:34:07 Voted 10.00
lol. Thanks, Neil. The Minotaur blood was a nice touch. ;p
Posted by Neilium at 2010-06-10 11:43:59 Voted 10.00 on 06/19/10
Sure enough, I overlooked one rockpile and found the missing digit! Thanks for the clue, zipping along now with Boots, and I'm sending you this postcard from downtown Alphecca! :)
Posted by Neilium at 2010-06-10 03:41:11 Voted 10.00 on 06/19/10
Argh! I thought I'd combed that area thoroughly, as I usually check every crate/barrel/rock/etc...
Oh well, thanks for narrowing the search area at least, here I go back again...[mumble grumble] :)
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